Gulf Shores phenom NBA-bound With draft history

Gulf Shores' Green 'off the charts athletically'

Published 5:30 am, Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Thanks to a lanky 6-8 frame, 43-inch vertical jump and buttery stroke, Green has in just a few short months vaulted from the relative obscurity of Gulf Shores Academy to coveted lottery prize and future millionaire.

And now that Green's time has come, executives around the NBA are burning up cell phone minutes as they try to swing a deal to move up in tonight's draft in order to select the 19-year-old phenom.

Green's knack for impeccable timing began long before he ever dribbled a basketball. It actually began the day he was born — Jan. 26, 1986. While much of the country was watching the Chicago Bears destroy the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX, the Green family was welcoming a son who had the good sense to make his entrance into this world at halftime.

Green, who is in New York for the draft, still chuckles at the stories the family tells about that hectic day.

"It's true. I was born at halftime of the Super Bowl," Green said. "It was 1986, and all I know about it is that the Bears were playing. Man, you should hear the stories. My mom (Brenda) was having the baby, and she was like, 'No, I'm not going to miss the game. I can't miss the game.'

"And then my dad (Gerald Sr.), while I was being born, he was watching the game. He wasn't even watching me being born. He was watching the Super Bowl. Yeah, I guess you could say that timing is everything."

That pretty much sums up Green's meteoric arrival on the national landscape.

A kid who couldn't make the varsity at Dobie High School found a new life after transferring to Gulf Shores, a charter school off South Post Oak. More comfortable in his new surroundings, Green put up huge numbers (29 points and 13 rebounds per game) during his first season at Gulf Shores, a repeat of his junior year that allowed him to catch up academically.

Green next hit the summer circuit, starring at the 2004 Reebok ABCD Camp, where he was named MVP. This past season at Gulf Shores, Green averaged 33 points and 12 rebounds, numbers that got him invited to the McDonald's All-American Game.

It was there that Green's timing again served him well. He earned raves — and the MVP trophy — with his spectacular game (24 points, including six 3-pointers) and captured the slam-dunk title, too. He also sparkled at the Chicago Roundball Classic, the same stage where LeBron James showed off his NBA-ready skills two years ago.

Suddenly Green was known, and by all the right people. NBA people.

The time was right. Rather than go to Oklahoma State, Green decided that if the NBA wanted him, he definitely wanted to be in the NBA.

"It all really started to happen after the McDonald's Game," he said. "As the days passed, it gradually (gained momentum), and I realized that I had a chance to capitalize on my dreams. And I took it."

Comparisons begin

And NBA evaluators wound up taking a piece of his identity. He wasn't Gerald Green anymore. Green instead was "the next
Tracy McGrady
" or "the next
Kobe Bryant
," allusions to two players who made the jump from high school and became NBA superstars. Because of Green's long 195-pound frame, others have compared him to former Celtics scorer
Reggie Lewis
or former Elsik star and current Seattle SuperSonic Rashard Lewis.

Green dismisses such talk as nothing more than hyperbole, perhaps because he doesn't want to create expectations he has little chance of meeting.

"It's great when people say I'm the next Tracy McGrady or the next Kobe, because look at those guys — they're probably the best players in the NBA," Green said. "I think that's a very big compliment. But honestly, I don't think I'm very much like them.

"For me to play anything like them, I'm going to have to be 10 times or 20 times better (than at present). I'm not even close to their caliber. I'm thankful to be compared to them, though."

Because of the new collective bargaining agreement, this is the last year for high school players to make the direct jump to the NBA. It almost seems to be a relief to NBA general managers, who seem weary of trying to project how 18-year-olds will progress in the league or how long it will take for such prospects to deliver.

"You can tell he's going to be a very good player in this league," New Orleans general manager Allan Bristow said of Green, who could wind up at forward or guard. "But it's going to take some time, a lot of practices, a lot of games and a lot of mistakes. I think we've got to filter that into our mix — whether we want to take that time, energy and effort."

Long list of gifts

All agree, however, that Green is gifted like few prospects they've seen.

"He is off the charts athletically," said Dennis Lindsey, the Rockets' director of basketball operations. "He's going to dunk like Tracy and Vince (Carter). But the thing that probably transfers the most (to the NBA) is his one-dribble, pull-up ability in a tight (defensive) box.

"He can separate and get up a legitimate shot. And as we know, with a 24-second shot clock, there are a lot of times during the course of the year when you have to be able to rise up and make a guarded shot. He can do that. He's fast for his size. He has good height and good length. But what really stands out are his physical and athletic gifts. He was truly touched by the hand of God."

Still, Green has a long way to go before making a huge splash in the NBA, and he is the first to admit as much.

"I definitely have to work on my mental and physical toughness," he said.

Today, Green is still the quiet, shy kid who graduated from Gulf Shores last month. Once he signs a contract, he'll be a millionaire living a life that not too long ago was little more than a fantasy.

Jetting about

Green spent much of the last couple weeks flying to and from workouts, visiting Portland (which has the No. 3 pick tonight), New Orleans (No. 4), Charlotte (No. 5), Utah (No. 6), Toronto (No. 7), New York (No. 8) and the
Lakers
(No. 10). But while it has all happened so very, very quickly, Green has been able to savor the experience.